LEST WE FORGET
Squadron Leader Charles Brian BEST DFC
From Australia serving in the Royal Air Force
Service No: 41366 (RAFVR)
Born: Sydney NSW, 1916
Enlisted in the RAF: 1938
Unit: No. 515 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Little Snoring
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 515 Squadron Mosquito IV aircraft PZ184), Germany, 16 September 1944, Age unavailable
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: No additional information (Home address Willoughby NSW)
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Commemorative Roll, Australian War Memorial, Canberra
DFC Citation: Flight Lieutenant Best and Sergeant Howarth* have carried out 26 operational flights together since joining their squadron. During recent night operations against enemy invasion bases, they have displayed great ingenuity and foresight in planning their missions. This has enabled them to press home their attacks with the minimum interference from enemy anti-aircraft defences and the results achieved have been highly successful. The courage and initiative displayed by Flight Lieutenant Best and Sergeant Howarth have been of the highest order. (Citation dated 22 November 1940)
* (RAF), possibly Barry James Howarth (575933)
PZ184 took off from Little Snoring at 0122 hours on 16 September and crashed at 0254 hours some 5 km north of Achmer, a village 5 km west south west from Bransche. Both crew members were killed.
The crew members of PZ184 were:
Squadron Leader Charles Brian Best DFC (41366) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Harry Dickinson (1491703) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
References:
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll On-Line Records
Chorley, W.R. Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War Volume 5 Aircraft and Aircrew Losses 1944, Midland Counties Publications UK, 1996
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record AWM65, 311
RAAF Directorate of Public Relations, These Eagles, Australian War Memorial Canberra, 1942 – Chapter: 10 Miles a Minute Dive